Tyrone Noling asks Ohio Parole Board for pardon after 30 years on death row
No physical evidence tied Noling to the 1990 murders of Bearnhardt and Cora Hartig, and three witnesses later recanted testimony
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
FILE – Larry Greene, public information director of the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, demonstrates how a curtain is pulled between the death chamber and witness room at the prison in Lucasville, Ohio, in Nov., 2005. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)
Photograph: Associated Press News (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Tyrone Noling, 54, has spent 30 years on death row for the 1990 murders of Bearnhardt and Cora Hartig in Ohio.
- Noling presented new evidence to the Ohio Parole Board on 18 August 2026, including recanted witness testimony and a potential alternative suspect, Dan Wilson, who was executed in 2009.
- No physical evidence tied Noling to the crime, and no murder weapon was ever found.
- The Ohio Parole Board will recommend action to Governor Mike DeWine, who has called for abolishing the death penalty.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 11 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. Coverage measured .
Trust
70/100
Craft
85/100
Hype
15/100
11 sources · methodology
Thin on the right so far
Only 1 of the 11 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
Tyrone Noling, 54, appeared before the Ohio Parole Board on 18 August 2026 to request a full pardon for the 1990 murders of Bearnhardt and Cora Hartig, an elderly couple from Atwater Township, Ohio. Noling was convicted in 1996 and sentenced to death, though no physical evidence linked him to the crime and no murder weapon was ever recovered.
The Hartigs, both 81, were found dead on the kitchen floor of their home on 5 April 1990. Bearnhardt Hartig had been shot three times and his wife five times with a .25-caliber automatic handgun. The house had been ransacked. Noling, who was 18 at the time, was part of a group accused of robbing elderly couples. Three teenagers initially implicated Noling but later recanted, saying police pressured them to name him as the shooter.
Noling’s legal team, supported by the Ohio Innocence Project, presented evidence including recanted witness testimony, a changed stance from the former Portage County sheriff, and clues pointing to Dan Wilson, who was executed in 2009 for a separate crime. Noling’s lawyers said a witness told authorities Wilson had bragged about committing the Hartig murders. Former Sheriff Ken Howe, now 83, testified that evidence had persuaded him Noling was innocent.
The Ohio Parole Board will deliberate and send a recommendation to Governor Mike DeWine within six business days. DeWine, a Republican, has called for abolishing the death penalty, saying he no longer views it as a deterrent to violent crime. Noling does not have an execution date, and his hearing was the first for an Ohio death row inmate since 2020.
What the coverage left out
None of the right-rated digests mentioned the recanted witness testimony or the lack of physical evidence tying Noling to the crime. The centre-rated digests did not include the potential alternative suspect, Dan Wilson, or the former sheriff’s changed stance. The left-rated digests omitted the detail that Noling’s hearing was the first for an Ohio death row inmate since 2020.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 6 times, most recently on 18 Aug 2026, 23:15, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
6 rated outlets
- The left-rated reports led on Noling’s claim of innocence and the new evidence presented to the parole board. The Associated Press and Washington Top News, whose full reports were printed, both highlighted recanted witness testimony, the lack of physical evidence, and the potential alternative suspect, Dan Wilson. The Associated Press quoted former Sheriff Ken Howe saying, “I believe that these boys were, and are, innocent.”
- The reports also noted celebrity support for Noling, including Kim Kardashian and actors Hilarie Burton and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. The left-rated digests carried the same core facts: Noling’s 30 years on death row, the lack of physical evidence, and the parole board’s upcoming recommendation to Governor DeWine.
Centre
4 rated outlets
- The centre-rated digests from The Record and Winnipeg Free Press led on Noling’s 30 years on death row and his appearance before the parole board. Washington Top News, whose full report was printed, included Governor DeWine’s call to abolish the death penalty, the lack of physical evidence, and the recanted witness testimony. The report also noted that Noling’s hearing was the first for an Ohio death row inmate since 2020.
Right
1 rated outlet
- The right-rated digest from Marietta Daily Journal led on Noling’s 30 years on death row and his appearance before the parole board. It did not mention the recanted witness testimony, the lack of physical evidence, or the potential alternative suspect.
Read it at the source
11 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
6- Ohio death row inmate Tyrone Noling gets a rare chance to ask parole board for a pardon (opens The Toronto Star in a new tab)
The Toronto Star — is The Toronto Star biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Ohio death row inmate Tyrone Noling gets a rare chance to ask parole board for a pardon (opens The Seattle Times in a new tab)
The Seattle Times — is The Seattle Times biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Ohio death row inmate Tyrone Noling gets a rare chance to ask parole board for a pardon (opens Associated Press News in a new tab)
Associated Press News — is Associated Press News biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Ohio death row inmate Tyrone Noling gets a rare chance to ask parole board for a pardon (opens The Independent in a new tab)
The Independent — is The Independent biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Ohio death row inmate Tyrone Noling gets a rare chance to ask parole board for a pardon (opens The Record in a new tab)
The Record — is The Record biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Ohio death row inmate Tyrone Noling gets a rare chance to ask parole board for a pardon (opens The Hamilton Spectator in a new tab)
The Hamilton Spectator — is The Hamilton Spectator biased? Our profile of this outlet
Centre
4- Ohio death row inmate Tyrone Noling gets chance at pardon (opens Spectrum News in a new tab)
Spectrum News — is Spectrum News biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Ohio death row inmate Tyrone Noling gets a rare chance to ask parole board for a pardon (opens Washington Top News in a new tab)
Washington Top News — is Washington Top News biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Ohio death row inmate Tyrone Noling gets a rare chance to ask parole board for a pardon (opens Cecil Daily in a new tab)
Cecil Daily — is Cecil Daily biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Ohio death row inmate Tyrone Noling gets a rare chance to ask parole board for a pardon (opens Winnipeg Free Press in a new tab)
Winnipeg Free Press — is Winnipeg Free Press biased? Our profile of this outlet
Right
1Not rated
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Tyrone Noling asks Ohio Parole Board for pardon after 30 years on death…?
- Of the 11 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 55% are rated left, 36% are rated centre, 9% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Tyrone Noling asks Ohio Parole Board for pardon after 30 years on death… left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 11 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Tyrone Noling asks Ohio Parole Board for pardon after 30 years on death… biased?
- Tyrone Noling asks Ohio Parole Board for pardon after 30 years on death row is one event reported by 11 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Tyrone Noling asks Ohio Parole Board for pardon after 30 years on death…?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Tyrone Noling asks Ohio Parole Board for pardon after 30 years on death…?
- 11 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What evidence did Tyrone Noling present to the Ohio Parole Board?
- Noling presented recanted witness testimony, a changed stance from the former Portage County sheriff, and evidence pointing to Dan Wilson, who was executed in 2009 for a separate crime. His lawyers said a witness told authorities Wilson had bragged about committing the Hartig murders.
- What happens after the Ohio Parole Board makes its recommendation?
- The Ohio Parole Board will send its recommendation to Governor Mike DeWine within six business days. DeWine, who has called for abolishing the death penalty, has the final say on whether Noling receives a pardon or clemency.
- Why was Tyrone Noling’s hearing before the Ohio Parole Board unusual?
- Death row inmates in Ohio typically do not receive clemency hearings until they have an execution date. Noling does not have one, so his hearing on 18 August 2026 was the first for an Ohio death row inmate since 2020.
How did this read?
About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.
